Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender. Rights at Work

Transcription

1 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Rights at Work

2 Rights for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGB&T) Workers A s a result of many years of campaigning by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGB&T) organisations and Trade Unions, LGB&T workers now enjoy the same rights at work as their heterosexual (straight) colleagues. The Equality Act, introduced in October 2010 in England, Scotland and Wales, made it unlawful for employers to discriminate against someone or harass them for reasons relating to either their sexual orientation or their gender identity. Although the Equality Act has not been enacted in Northern Ireland, similar legislation applies protecting LGB&T people from discrimination. The information in this leaflet therefore applies equally to LGBT members in Northern Ireland. As well as the recent improvements in legal rights, social attitudes have also dramatically changed but this doesn t mean that harassment and discrimination relating to sexual orientation or gender identity has disappeared from our workplaces. Millions of LGB&T workers still don t feel safe enough to be out about their sexual orientation or gender identity at work and thousands of these workers will be Usdaw members. This leaflet summarises the legal rights LGB&T members have at work. The issues Whilst Usdaw recognises that lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender members each have distinct and separate problems at work, they also share a range of concerns and experiences. For example, it is common for LGB&T members to find themselves on the receiving end of harassment and unfair treatment simply for being who they are. Usdaw LGB&T members have experienced the following at work: n Verbal abuse and name calling by colleagues, managers and customers. n Graffiti and so called jokes about their sexual orientation or gender identity. n Being ignored or excluded by colleagues.

3 Gender Identity The law also means that transgender members are fully protected from discrimination by the law. A transgender person is someone who lives their life in the gender opposite to that in which they were born. n Outing someone at work as being either LGB or T without their permission. n Refused equal access to pensions, parental or adoption leave and other rights at work. n Spreading rumours or gossip about someone s sexual orientation or gender identity. n Physical violence. Who is covered by the law? Sexual Orientation The law protects everyone from discrimination on the grounds of their sexual orientation so it applies to straight as well as lesbian, gay and bisexual workers. However, as employment tribunal statistics tell us, it is overwhelmingly lesbians, gay men and bisexuals that experience unfair treatment and harassment because of their sexual orientation. The law makes it clear that a transgender person does not have to undergo any medical procedures to be protected. The Code of Practice to the Equality Act states: Under the Act gender reassignment is a personal process, that is, moving away from one s birth sex to the preferred gender, rather than a medical process. In other words, the law now recognises the fact that many transgender people choose to live their lives in their adopted gender without undergoing any medical or surgical treatment. In Northern Ireland, the Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations also cover trans people at all stages of transition. They make it clear that it is unlawful to discriminate against a person on the ground that the person intends to undergo gender reassignment, or is undergoing

4 gender reassignment, or has at some time in the past undergone gender reassignment. This makes sure that the various stages of the process, including the very initial stage are covered by the regulations. In otherwords, a person may intend to undergo reassignment but never go through with it or they may be in the process of transitioning or it might have happened previously at each or all of these stages they would be covered. What the law says The law means an employer cannot: n Refuse to employ someone or decide to dismiss someone because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. n Refuse access to training or promotion because of someone s sexual orientation or gender identity. n Deny LGB&T workers goods, facilities and services they offer to straight and non transgender workers. This would include access to insurance schemes, travel concessions, or social events. n Give an unfair reference when someone leaves employment because of being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. n Victimise someone by treating them less favourably if they have complained about alleged discrimination or given evidence in such a case. n Discriminate indirectly. This happens when an employer applies a rule or has a policy or a practice that applies to everyone but one group of workers (such as LGB&T workers) cannot meet so easily.

5 However, remember the law allows employers to defend a claim of indirect discrimination where they can show they had very good reasons for it and it was in pursuit of a legitimate aim. n Discriminate against someone because they associate with a LGB or T worker. For example, it would be unlawful for an employer to treat a member less favourably because their brother is gay or their dad is transgender. n Discriminate against someone because they are perceived to be LGB or T even though they aren t. The Code of Practice to the Equality Act gives the following example: A masculine looking woman applies for a job as a sales assistant. The sales manager thinks she is transgender because of her appearance and doesn t offer her the job, even though she performed the best at interview. The woman would have a claim for direct discrimination because of perceived gender reassignment, even though she is not in fact transgender. n Deny LGBT workers benefits or pay offered to straight and non transgender colleagues. This includes overtime rates and allowances, travel allowances as well as access to pension schemes and benefits under pension schemes. However, there are some exceptions to this rule. For example, employers can restrict benefits to heterosexual married workers, on the condition that workers in a same sex civil partnership also have equal access to the same benefit. In otherwords, an employer can still lawfully restrict benefits to straight married couples and same sex couples who have registered their partnership but deny them to unmarried couples and same sex couples who haven t registered their partnership. The Civil Partnership Act 2004 gave same sex couples the right to register as civil partners from 21 December The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 enabled same sex couples to marry. For the purposes of State Pension and occupational pension rights, the Act provided for same-sex married couples to be treated in the same way as civil partners.

6 When equal marriage legislation was before Parliament, a particular issue of debate was what this meant in terms of survivors benefits, particularly those in contracted-in occupational pension schemes. The Equality Act 2010 contains an exception, providing that it is not discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation to restrict access to a benefit that would be available to a person who was married or in a civil partnership in relation to rights accrued before 5 December The effect of this is that where an occupational pension scheme provides survivors benefits to married couples, it must also provide them to surviving civil partners but only in respect of service from 5 December 2005 (additional requirements apply to contracted-out schemes). Opposition MPs and peers tabled amendments proposing that the exception in the Equality Act should be lifted. The Government amended the bill at Third Reading to require a review of survivor benefits for different groups in occupational pension schemes and the costs and other effects of eliminating differences. The review of survivor benefits in occupational pension schemes was published on 26 June The Government is considering its response. Harassment Harassment is one of the biggest problems LGB&T members face in the workplace. The Equality Act makes it clear that harassment, including so called jokes, is unlawful. Employers must deal with any incidents quickly and effectively and take reasonable steps to prevent any such incidents from arising in the first place. The Code of Practice to the Equality Act states that: Harassment covers a wide range of behaviour that can include spoken or written words or abuse, imagery, graffiti, physical gestures, facial expressions mimicry, jokes, pranks, acts affecting a person s surroundings or other physical behaviour. Remember, the offensive remarks or behaviour don t have to be aimed at a LGB or T member for it to be harassment as long as the remarks or behaviour are related to sexual orientation or gender reassignment. What can you do? As important as the law is we know that on its own it won t stop harassment or discrimination from happening in our workplaces. Trade Unions have an important job of work to do challenging harassment and the Equality Act has helped to strengthen our arm. Displaying Usdaw leaflets on tackling harassment and bullying as well as LGB&T literature can send a strong signal to members and non

7 members alike that the Union understands the issues facing LGB&T members. It also helps to show that the Union is committed to building workplaces where LGB&T workers feel safe about being out about their sexual orientation or gender identity at work. Usdaw s Legal Plus service Usdaw has a legal service which is completely free. If you have a problem and need help and advice or you want to join the Union, contact your union rep or ring the Usdaw helpline * or visit the website at The Union s Legal department can advise on whether a member has a case under the sexual orientation regulations. Where to go for more information ACAS (the Advisory Conciliation and Advice Service) has produced guidance on the regulations with examples of good practice for employers to follow. You can get a copy by going to the ACAS website or by phoning the ACAS helpline on The number for textphone users is Contact Usdaw Wherever you work, an Usdaw representative or official (Area Organiser) is not far away. For further information or assistance phone our Helpline * to connect you to your divisional office or visit our website or write to the Union s Central Office at Usdaw, 188 Wilmslow Road, Manchester M14 7DJ. Usdaw has seven divisional equalities forums one for every region. There are seats on the forums for under involved groups of members including LGB&T members. The forums take the equalities agenda out into the workplace by organising workplace visits, local get-togethers and working with representatives and officers to recruit more members. If you are interested in finding our more about the equalities work of the Union or your divisional equalities forum usdaw.org.uk or contact the Equalities section on *Calls charged at local rate

8 Improving workers lives Winning for members Produced with the kind assistance of the TUC Published by Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, 188 Wilmslow Road, Manchester M14 6LJ Sept 2014 Leaflet No. 337

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